Refrigerator cabinet



May 25, 1937. E. w. BoTTuM REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Sept; 9, 1935 INVENTbR ATroRNEYa Patented May 25, 1937 REFRIGERATOR CABINET Edward W. Bottum, Detroit, Mich. Application September 9, 1935, Serial No. 39,775

Claims.

The present invention relates to cabinets for refrigerators and more particularly to a novel accessory therefor which functions as a closure element, auxiliary to the main door, and has a 5 shelf for the reception of articles being transferred to and from the food compartment when the door is opened.

It is well known that when the door which provides access to the food compartment of a conventional mechanical -refrigerator is opened the cold air therein is very rapidly displaced by warmer air from the exterior of the refrigerator cabinet, due to the fact that the entire lfood compartment is open to the atmosphere when access to only a part of the food compartment is desired. The present invention has as its primary object to provide a mechanical refrigerator cabinet with a closure element for the food compartment, auxiliary to the main door,

which permits access to a particular part of the refrigerator cabinet food compartment while it closes off the remainder of the compartment to prevent warm air from entering the same or the cold air therein from circulating outwardly of the compartment. More particularly the present closure element is used to close the lower part of the refrigerator food compartment so that when the main door is open the relatively heavy cold air will be trapped in the cabinet and prevented from circulating outwardly of the lower part of the food compartment to be replaced by Warm air from the exterior of the cabinet. It thus becomes possible to remove ice cubes, bottles, etc. from the upper part of the food compartment with a much smaller thermal loss'than ordinarily is the case with the result that the operation of the refrigerator becomes more economical .and its food preserving efficiency is increased.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a closure for the lower part of a mechanical refrigerator food compartment which normally prevents circulation of air inwardly and outwardly thereof when the door providing access thereto is open and which may be moved to facilitate access to the entire food compartment, the said closure element when moved being adapted to function as a shelf for the reception of articles to be transferred to or from the food compartment. In providing a convenient resting place for articles it becomes possible for the articles to be transferred into or out of a refrigerator food compartment with great facility and the time period which the door and auxiliary 55 closure element must remain open is materially (Cl. S12-186) reduced with the result that a marked increase in eiiiciency is realized.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide means for mounting the combined closure element and shelf in a refrigerator cabi- 5 net so as to adapt is for use as an accessory on refrigerators already in use, or as standard equipment on refrigerators being manufactured. In its preferred form this means comprises brackets for pivotally supporting the closure element so 10I that it may pivot with respect to the cabinet and move from a position where it traps air in the food compartment and to a position where it may function as a shelf. When the combined closure and shelf is functioning as a closure'15 element it will be understood Vthat it .functions independently of the main door which is ordinarily provided on a refrigerator cabinet and when it is functioning as a shelf it provides a resting place for articles which is auxiliary to 20 the shelves which are ordinarily found in a re-l frigerator cabinet.

With the above and other ends in view the invention consists in matters hereinafter more particularly pointed out with reference to the 25 accompanying drawing in which Figs. 1 and 2 are vertical cross sections illustrating different stages in the operation of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of 3'0 Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View illustrating a detail;

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary cross sections il- K lustrating a modied form of the invention; 35 Fig. 7 is a view taken on the line 1--1 of Fig; 5;

Figs. 8 and 9 are elevations of another form of device for lsupporting the combined shelf and closure element, and

Fig. 10 is a cross section illustrating still an- 4o other form.

Like characters of reference 'are employed throughout to designate corresponding parts.

In the drawing there is illustrated a refrigerator cabinet I provided with a food compart- 4-5 ment 2 to which access may be had by opening the door 3 which is hingedly supported with respect to the refrigerator cabinet inthe usual manner. In the upper portion of the refrigerator cabinet food compartment is provided a mechan- 50 ical refrigerating unit 4 and shelves 5 are mounted in the cabinet in the usual manner. Attached to the lowermost shelf 5 is a bracket 6, the bracket having a pair of diverging arms 'l with plates 8 at their upper ends adapted to engage 55 theV lower surface of the shelf and being secured to said shelf by bolts 9 passing through plates I0 which engage the upper surface of the shelf. In order to permit air to circulate freely through a refrigerator cabinet the shelves such as are shown at 5 are ordinarily formed of a wire grill and it will be seen that the plates 8 and IIJ with the bolts 9 uniting the same provide a simple means for attaching the brackets 6 to conventional refrigerator shelves for the reason that the plates extend over two or more of the shelf grill members and the bolts 9 pass between the said grill members.

The numeral II indicates a combined closure element and shelf having ears I2 receiving a pivot pin I3 which extends into the bracket 6. It will be understood that two of such ears I2 are provided on opposite sides of the combi-ned cl'0'\ sure element and shelf and that two brackets 6 are also provided, there being a bracket 6 located` adjacent to each side wall of the refrigerator cabinet so as to support the shelf at two widely spaced apart points. It will also be understood that the shelf II extends entirely across the food compartment 2 and that its side walls are provided with wiping seals such as are designated by the numeral I4 and illustrated on the end of the element for wiping engagement with the bottom wall I5 of the food compartment. In other words the seal I4 is adapted to be duplicated on the sides of the elements as Well as onthe end of the element as illustrated.

From the foregoing it becomes apparent that the combined closure element and shelf is supported with respect to the lowermost refrigerator shelf 5 so that it may pivot with respect thereto; Fig; 1` the door 3 may be opened and access may be had to the upper shelf 2 and to the usual ice cube compartment in the apparatus indicated at 4r Without the cold air in the lower part of the food compartment escaping through the open door. However,Y when access isv desired to the other shelves 5 and to food resti-ng upon the lower wall |5 the combined closure element and shelf may be moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position. where it projects outwardly of the food compartment. In order to facilitate. use of the closure element I as a shelf the invention provides a link IIi which pivotally connected at to the shelf and which has a pin I8 on its other'end extendingV into a slot I9 in the arm 'I of its respective bracket 6. This construction is duplicated at each bracket and when the pin |:8 at the end' of its respective slot I9 as. illustrated in Fig. 21 the link4 I5. functions to hold the: closure element I I in a horizontal or substantially horizontal position whereby it functions as a shelf for the reception of. articles to be transferred into or out of the refrigerator food compartment.

It will thus beseen Vthat it is possible through use of the present invention to have access to the upper part of a refrigerator food compartment Without the cold air circulating outwardly of the lower part4 of the food compartment and that the means which makes this possible functions as a shelf to facilitate quick transfer of articles to and. from the refrigeratorwhen access to the entire food compartment is desired.

In Fig. 4 the numeral IIa designates a combined shelf and closure element which is adapted to be supported in the manner described above between a pair of spaced apart brackets 6a, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 4. A rod |311 ex- When it is in the position shown inV tends between the pair of brackets Ba and through a tubular part I2a integral with the element IIa. In order to frictionally resist movement of the element IIa with respect to its pivotal support |30. the invention provides a pair of washers 20 and 2| and a coiled spring 22 interposed therebetween so as to press the washer 29 into engagement with the bracket Sa and the washer 2| into engagement with the end of the tubular element |211. The washers are thus yieldably pressed into engagement with their corresponding parts so as to frictionally resist pivotal movement of the element I Ia. It is preferred that means for offering a slight frictional resistance to movement be provided in combination. with the combined closure element and shelf so as to lhold it in its vertical position as illustrated at II in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the numeral 5a designates a refrigerator shelf and 23 looped wire guides attached to the bottom thereof. The guides 23 preferably are formed of a single piece of wire bent to provide an elongated slot 21| and having the ends thereof welded together. Two of such guiding means are provided and the two are united by transversely extending strap members 25 which are secured to thefbottom of the shelf through means of bolts V26 and plates 21 which rest upon the top of the shelf. The strap members 25 are preferably welded to the elements 23 so as to maintainA them in rigid spaced apart relation. The two guide members 23 are united at their front ends by a cross rod 28 and a combined shelf and closure element 29 has studs 3!! extending into the guide slots 24 so that the shelf and closure element 29- may be moved to a position such as shown in- Fig. 5v

wherein one end of the shelf is supported by the studs 39- and guide elements 23 while the other end is supported by the transverse rod 28. When the shelf and closure element is in the position shown in Fig. 5 it is adapted for service as a shelf and it will bey observed upon reference to Fig. 6, when the shelf 29 is moved outwardly it passes beyond the supporting rod 29 and moves pivotally i-nto a vertical position where it functions as a closure element to permit the cabinet door being opened without the cold air in thev bottom of theV refrigerator food compartment circulating outwardly thereof.

In Figs. 8 and 9 there is illustrated a modified form of support for a combined shelf and closure element 3| In this form the element 3| is attached pivotally to a pair of plates 32, one of which is shown'. The plates 32 are united with a shelf 33 of grill formation by means of bolts 34 and plates 35 which extend over several of the grill members forming the shelf 33. Certain of the bolts 34 are also employed to secure a bracket 36 beneath the plate 32, which bracket is provided with a slot 31 through which the end of a notched link 39 extends. The end of the link 38 is pivotally attached to a bracket 39 secured to the element 3|., It will be seen upon comparison of Fig. 8 with Fig. 9 that the element 3| may be held in a horizontal position by thenotched link 38 or that the notched link 38 may be moved to permit the element 3| to pivot to a vertical position in which it functions as means for trapping cold air in a refrigerator food compartment.

In Fig. 10 the numeral 39 designates a fragment of a refrigerator wall adjacent to a door opening having a sealing member 40. Hingedly connected to the wall 39 is a combined shelf and closure element 4| having a bumper 42 secured to one face thereof and adapted to engage the sealing element 40 to hold the element 4I in a horizontal position for service as a shelf. The element 4I may be moved on its hinged mounting to a vertical position where it functions to prevent circulation of air outwardly of a refrigerator food compartment.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described it will be noted that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims, and such changes are contemplated.

What I claim is:-

l. Means for mounting a supplemental shelf and closure element on a grill type shelf of a refrigerator whereby it may be swung to alternative positions where it projects through the door opening of the refrigerator or where it acts as a partial closure for said door opening, said means comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket having plates adapted to span a plurality of shelf grill members on opposite sides thereof respectively, securing elements adapted to extend between the grill members to unite said pair of plates, and a supplemental shelf and closure element pivotally mounted in said pair of brackets. f

2. Means for mounting a supplemental shelf and closure element on a grill type shelf of a refrigerator whereby it may be swung to alternative positions where it projects through the door opening of the refrigerator or where it acts as a partial closure for said door opening, said means comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket having plates adapted to span a plurality of shelf grill members on opposite sides thereof respectively, securing elements adapted to extend between the grill members to unite said pair of plates, a rod extending between the pair of brackets and supported thereby, and a supplemental shelf and closure element having a tubular bearing portion received on said rod.

3. Means for mounting a supplemental shelf and closure element on a grill type shelf of a refrigerator whereby it may be swung to alternative positions where it projects through the door opening of the refrigerator or where it acts as a partial closure for said door opening, said means comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket having plates adapted to Lspan a plurality of shelf grill members on opposite sides thereof respectively, securing elements adapted to extend between the grill members to unite said pair of plates, said brackets having elongate slots therein, a supplemental shelf and closure element, pintles on said supplemental shelf slidably received in said slots and supporting one end of said supplemental shelf, and a transverse member uniting said brackets and providing a support for the other end of said. shelf. v

4. Means for mounting a supplemental shelf and closure element on a grill type shelf of a refrigerator whereby it may be swung to alternative positions where it projects through the door opening of the refrigerator or where it acts as a partial closure for said door opening, said means comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket having plates adapted to span a plurality of shelf grill members on opposite sidesA thereof respectively, securing elements adapted to extend between the grill members to unite said pair of plates, a supplemental shelf and closure, pivots supporting said supplemental shelf and closure in said brackets, and friction means mounted on at least one of said pivots for yieldably opposing swinging movement of said supplemental shelf.

5. Means for mounting a supplemental shelf and closure element on a grill type shelf of a refrigerator whereby it may be swung to alternative positions where it projects through the door opening of the refrigerator or where it acts as a partial closure for said door opening, said means comprising a pair of brackets, each bracket comprising a pair of upwardly diverging arms, a supplemental shelf pivotally mounted at the juncture of said arms, a slot in one of said arms, a link connected to said supplemental shelf and having means riding in said slot, eachrarm having plates adapted to span spaced grill members of a shelf on opposite sides thereof respectively, and securing elements adapted to extend between the grill members to unite the plates on opposite sides of the grill members.

EDWARD W. BOT'I'UM. 

